Post #287607 by 8FT Tiki on Thu, Feb 22, 2007 10:37 PM

I am nearly done with a new piece I've been working on this Winter. It really all began before my Father died last year.
One day we were talking in his garage and he showed me these rough cut wooden gun stocks. Someone had this wood and had it sawn into blocks for carving the wooden parts for rifles or shotguns. I don't know where he got them or how old they are but they seem to be old, not newly done. They have a tar seal on the ends. They are various sizes ranging from 1-3 inches thick and 1-3 feet long. Most seem to be walnut but may be an oak piece or two.
I think the long ones would make some great war cubs.

Anyway, he gave me one and said "go ahead and carve it, I'm not going to use them. So I took one home and looked at it a hundred times. I kept thinking THERES A MOAI IN THERE! Well I finally just decided to dig in and see if
it would come out. Here's how it looks now.

I could have put in more details such as on the ears, nostrils and mouth but I found that as the moai emerged,
it felt to me that it should be a stylized image instead of a true replica carving. I am really pleased with it so far. I finished sanding tonight and I have been thinking all along that I want to have the grain very visible so instead of giving it a polyurethane coat, I will be using a tung oil finish. I do not want a gloss or sheen so a flat oiled appearance is what I am after. Should have more pics soon. This carving is walnut and measures 17 1/2 inches tall.